Kullervo's Revenge

Chapter 5

    Connie had imagined a lot of scenarios that could happen if she revealed her secret to Col. First of all, she thought of the rejection, that Col wouldn't like her after discovering her new abilities, that he would freak out and never wanna talk to her again. She wondered whether he would hate her or consider her a monster even worse than the mischievous shapeshifter, Kullervo.

    And he would probably be right. After all they had been through, Kullervo had won. Connie was now a universal with Kullervo's powers combined. He might not be controlling her, but she couldn't guarantee that things would stay the same. What if she decided to turn against the Society? If Kullervo was right about her, the Society had no chance.

    She shivered at the thought of harming her loved ones.  Okay, she wasn't the noblest and calmest person on Earth, but she couldn't find a reason why she would kill her brother, for instance. Truth is, Connie couldn't stand him sometimes and she wanted desperately for him to return to their parents and leave her alone, however the idea of murder never crossed her mind.

Pushing all those thoughts aside, she dived after Col, but Skylark was faster. With an elegant flopping, he was able to grab his companion, before hitting the ground.

Skylark landed and she followed his lead. As soon as she touched the ground, she changed her form quickly and run towards her unconscious friend.

    She found him lying on the grass, his eyes shut, his lips tight and his skin pale like a ghost. The Pegasus impressive form was leaning towards the boy and Connie could sense his disturbance and his worry for his companion. Wake up Col! he shouted like a maniac, a desperate cry only Connie could hear.

    She kneeled next to her friend and, surprisingly, Skylark didn't try to push her away. She felt really grateful. Maybe, being a mythical creature, Skylark had no trouble accepting her new skills.

    No need to worry, Connie. She could hear him calling her using their bond. She shared a bond with every mythical creature, something like telepathy. A gift for all universals. She could hear Skylarks words, but also his thoughts, his feeling and secrets. However, the Pegasus had access to her mind palace as well.

    I know it's hard. Connie let out a sigh of relief. I'm sure Col understands. He was just as shocked as the rest of us. But for his reassuring words, Connie couldn't put her mind at ease.

    She heard beaches crawling and feet running and, seconds later, Rat and Simon appeared from the woods. First thing they saw was Connie sobbing over Col's body.

    "He's not..." Rat couldn't finish the sentenced. His face was filled with terror and he kneeled next to Connie and hugged her tightly.

    "He's just past out." she replied trying to appear calm, however she couldn't and she burst into tears.
"This is all my fault." she added whispering and wiped her tears.

"Yeah, if you put it that way..." Simon started saying, but an angry look from Rat made him shut up.

    "God's sake, Simon! How can you be so insensitive?'' Connie yelled and Simon rolled his eyes and touched Col's forehead.

    "I'm just being realistic!" he complained and took his mobile phone off his pocket. "By the way, Connie what the hell! You can..."

    ''...take the form of every mythical creature I want, yeah, thanks for noticing." she interrupted him. Rat and Simon were staring her in awe and disbelief. They couldn't decide whether to be amazed of worried. That's what Connie would do at least.

    "So that's what you refused to tell to the Members of the Society. You didn't want them to find out you had absorbed Kullervo's powers.'' said Rat and Connie nodded in agreement.

    "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" she asked suddenly aware that the secret might be spread to the other members of the Society.

    "Are you crazy? Of course not!'' was Rat's answer and, for the first time after a long time, Connie smiled.

    "You know I can't keep secrets..." Simon told her and left a dramatic pause "...but I'll do my best" he added and smirked watching his sister's shocked face.

    "Thanks, guys." Connie hugged them both, realising she should have got her secret off her chest a long time ago.

    A loud neigh brought them back to reality and Connie turned to see Skylark trying to wake up his companion.

    "Right. We need to get Col to the hospital asap. Simon, can you call an ambulance?" Connie asked.

    "On it." Simon tapped a number and started talking to someone."Hello? Yeah, this is Simon Lionheart. My friend is unconcious. Could you..."

    "I'll take Skylark where Windloaf and Rex are hiding and I'll meet you guys at the hospital" Rat offered. Skylark didn't want to leave Col alone, but Connie reminded him humans shouldn't see him and he followed Rat deep into the forest.

    As for Connie, she sat on the ground and hugged Col, waiting for the ambulence to come. "Don't worry, Col. I won't leave you. Help is on the way." she whispered, but he couldn't hear her.

    After three minutes or so, the white lights of the ambulance filled the forest and Connie waved her hand for the vehicle to see them. A woman in white appeared and Simon and Cinnie helped her lift Col and put him on a stretcher. Connie got into the ambulance and sat on a chair close to Col.

    "I'll go tell the others." Simon shouted and Connie waved goodbye.

    The ambulance made its way to the hospital.